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A rights body on Thursday said at least 36 Bangladeshi children were illegally detained at a home in West Bengal and sought National Human Rights Commission's intervention to free them.

In a letter to the NHRC Chairman, Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) gave details of the 36 Bangladeshi children were detained at the Balurghat Observation Home in South Dinajpur district.

"These children are Bangladeshi nationals and have not been repatriated to their native country even though criminal cases against them under the Indian law have already been disposed of," MASUM secretary Kiriti Roy said in the letter.

According to the complaint, four of these children are "victims of trafficking" but instead of repatriating them to Bangladesh, they have been detained on charge of entering India without valid papers.

The organisation also claimed that cases against 13 children have been disposed of.

Several of the children designated as "children in need of care and protectiona (CNCP) are in detention for several years, the rights body said.

"It seems officials of the the central and state governments are not sympathetic to deal with such issue on priority basis. The present situation of these children shows a shocking state of affairs involving total disregard for their basic human rights," said Roy.

Seeking an independent probe, Roy called for immediate repatriation of the children to Bangladesh and punishment to the officials concerned.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)